Reply to: RE>re: ticking noise
Andy Banta writes:
Why can't people RTFM? If the manual says to adjust the valves cold,
I can guaranfuckingtee there's a reason.
**** Sure, there's a reason. It's much easier to do it that way. You don't
have to do it in a hurry, because the engine's cooling down, and you absolutely
won't get your hands burnt. And for normal street use the result is adequate.
But the cold setting ASSUMES the expansion rate of the block and valve
gear. Setting the valves HOT is always more accurate, because these
considerations are automatically taken care of. Just don't try to use the cold
setting!
Sometimes manuals need to be taken with a grain of salt, too. For
example, the in my MGA *original* *factory* shop manual, it states that you
MUST remove the engine and transmission as a unit. Not yet having any britcar
buddies at the time, the first time I removed my engine, I followed the
manual's dictum, and wound up terribly munging the outer lip of the engine
compartment when the drive unit hung up on it. See, the engine and
transmission have to describe this arc, accurate to within a quarter of an
inch, to get out of the compartment....
Since then, I met an old-time british car mechanic around the corner. This
man has been fixing these cars for thirty years, and, in fact was a Triumph
factory service rep when my cars were new. He told me that not only is it
possible to remove the engine without the transmission, he's done *hundreds* of
them that way. So I pulled the engine without the tranny this last time, and
it went smooth as silk! One of the easiest engine R&R's I ever did. Not only
was there no danger of dinging the engine compartment lip, but I also avoided
taking the passenger compartment apart. Service manuals are not holy! There
is sometimes a better way!
In "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", Robert Pirsig talks about
service manuals. I don't remember the precise quote, but essentially he puts
the reader in the shoes of a production line boss. Somebody from the tech pubs
department comes over, and asks to borrow an engineer to help write the service
manual. Which engineer does the boss lend? His best and brightest? No, he
sends over his biggest goof-off, the one he can do without.
Another place you have to scrutinize, is a factory manual's insistance on
special tools. For example, on my BMW motorcycle, they'd have you believe that
you have to fork $10K or so over the BMW for their special tools before you
dare lay wrench on their sacred machine. In fact, many special tools can be
made up at home, or gotten around.
Another area where manuals may be weak, is in production changes. Many
changes take place over the life of a model, and factory manuals never seem to
track these very well. For example, I have an original TR2 service manual. It
has a supplement in the back for the TR3. But as far as I know, there is no
separate book for the '3A, although TR folks know that there is much more
difference between a 3 and a 3a, than between a late 2 and a 3.
- Jerry
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